The crisis of leadership began when leaders became too fixated on ‘gold and glory’. They started taking up ventures that would enhance their repute and not necessarily facilitate their team or their followers. However, team leaders proved everyone wrong and became a force to be reckoned with.
Although they are few, team leaders are undoubtedly the most successful in the world. They seek validation, not through prizes and awards, but through the trust, their teams place in their leadership. They are dedicated, and honest and fulfill the highest standards of morality and ethics. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Read ahead to know why good team leaders focus on the ‘We’ more than the ‘I’.
What Are the Responsibilities of a Good Team Leader?
A good team leader needs to fulfil their primary and secondary responsibilities. The former include managing day to day operations and delegating tasks. The latter are much more extensive in nature. Read more about them below.
1) Managing the Day-To-Day Operations
The primary responsibility of a team leader is managing the day-to-day operations of the office and ensuring that there are no delays in the projects. Team leaders also fix up budgetary constraints and ensure that the team has ample resources to get the work done.
2) Validating Good Behavior
No employee, no matter how focused or diligent, can work tirelessly without any award or recognition. Good leaders know that the best way to improve employee engagement in the office is to validate good behavior. They can do this by using positive, appreciative words. Moreover, they can also give good employees bonuses and other financial incentives to keep them motivated.
3) Preventing Poor Behavior
As a team leader, you do not just have to increase good behaviour, but also have to prevent poor behaviour. If you do not have an office environment that prevents things like bullying, harassment, and abuse, you do not have much else going in your favour. It is hence your job to ensure that HR makes strict policies that are implemented thoroughly. This ensures a positive environment for all.
4) Managing Conflicts
No matter how good a team is, it will always run into conflicts. As a team leader, it is your responsibility to manage conflicts and ensure that these conflicts are solved behind closed doors. If the issue is big, make sure you form disciplinary committees that conduct unbiased hearings and help resolve these issues.
5) Ensuring Collective Good
Team leaders do not do things for personal glory; they do it to achieve a collective good. So if the tradeoff is between a personal benefit for them at the cost of harm to the rest of the team, they would not indulge in such activity. Only when an action benefits the majority of the company is an action recognized as positive and worth doing.
How do Good Team Leaders Prioritize Collective Progress?
Leaders who want to grow their profile while also increasing tangible benefits for the company need to prioritize collective progress. Here are some of how team leaders do that.
1. Setting Clear and Crisp Goals for the Team
Team leaders realize that one of the biggest reasons teams fail is because they are unsure of what is expected of them. Rather than focusing on vague results, team leaders spend considerable time formulating future expectations for the team.
They start by explaining the vision and mission of the company and the brand. They then set clear goals for the team to aspire to. Moreover, these goals are specific and crisp so that there is no confusion in the minds of the team. By doing this, team leaders increase the chance of good results.
2. Delegating Tasks Responsibly
Many leaders have difficulty delegating tasks. Such leaders fall into three broad categories. Some leaders believe that others can not commit to a task properly and will make blunders while doing things. The second type of leaders believe that delegating tasks is important however, their non-assertive and soft personality makes it harder for them to delegate tasks.
The third type of leader is the worst because they delegate tasks in favoritism. They will delegate the high-end projects to their favorites in the office, thus depriving others of the opportunity to flourish. Team leaders stay away from all such tendencies.
3. Managing Conflicts Between Team Members
Individual leaders often prioritize their accomplishments. They will only ever intervene and manage conflicts when their progress is at stake. Other times, they are not bothered about the day-to-day activities of the office. However, team leaders manage conflict because they want a friendly and cooperative environment in the office.
They have exemplary listening skills that help them in effective communication. They often make the warring parties sit down and engage in a healthy conversation. Their interference often prevents a petty argument from becoming big.
4. Creating Equitable Policies for All
Exclusive leaders are not concerned with being equitable. They would make hiring based on their preconceived ideas about someone or their merits. They would also not try to eliminate any of their ingrained prejudices while making hiring choices. However, team leaders understand that inherent bias exists.
Team leaders go out of their way to provide equal and equitable opportunities for all. They empower their Human Resource department and try their best to not let gender, religion, ethnicity, or caste affect anyone’s performance.
5. Allowing for Discourse Generation
One of the biggest differences between individualistic and team leaders is that the latter are not fixated on increasing their rapport; they want the entire team to grow with them. Team leaders often follow a democratic leadership style. They involve others in the decision-making process.
When a crisis hits them, rather than deciding in isolation, these leaders get the entire team together and discuss the alternatives with them before concluding. This ensures that any decision that impacts the team is made after first consulting with the said team.
6. Sharing Credit for Wins
It is easier for leaders to blame others for their own mistakes. Moreover, leaders are happy with sharing the blame for losses, even if the loss is their fault alone. However, when it comes to sharing credit for wins, they are often hesitant. They either exaggerate their involvement in the project and genuinely believe themselves to be responsible for the win, or they simply enjoy the attention and do not want others to enjoy the limelight.
Team leaders avoid the above. They realize that any wins or accomplishments are due to team efforts. This is why when it comes to sharing credit, they are more than happy to share it with their team. This also enhances trust in leadership.
7. Taking Responsibility for Failures
If you doubt that great leaders do not fail, just read the stories of the famous world leader in history, and you will realize that every single of them had to go through trial and error before they could finally succeed. Even the best of leaders will fail. However, most leaders will try to dilute responsibility or worse: blame others for their own mistakes. This often happens when leaders adopt a fear-based leadership style.
Team leaders will take ownership of failures, even if they are not entirely to blame. This is because they have set a higher metric of excellence for themselves than they have set for the rest of their team.
8. Creating an Inspiring Team Environment
As a team leader, it is the job of the head to create an environment that facilitates growth and promotes positivity. Sadly, a lot of environments have a very toxic environment and leaders do little to improve it. However, great team leaders ensure that they create opportunities for everyone to succeed.
They also welcome engagement between teams so positive work behavior can develop. Additionally, these leaders will also arrange ice-breaking sessions, monthly parties, or celebration events to celebrate the small wins. This keeps the morale of the team high.
9. Motivate Team Members
Imagine a team member of yours who is facing an issue. Now, rather than coming to you for help or guidance, the team member tries to go for shortcuts. This is exactly what happens when leaders do not give confidence to their employees and make them realize that they have got their back.
Team leaders are not only heads of an organization, but also take up the role of mentoring the employees. Since they possess an exemplary character and skill set, they are in the perfect position to help others in their time of need.
10. Discover Training Needs and Provide Coaching
Most leaders believe that when employees join their organization, they are all prepared and do not require any external help. However, good companies find out good training programs and encourage their employees to get the necessary coaching needed to excel at their jobs.
The above not only facilitates their journey to success, but also allows the organization to train and recognize emerging leaders, thereby helping an organization grow and prosper.
Why Do We Need Team Leaders?
| Individualistic Leaders | Team Leaders |
| Focus on the ‘I’ of things | Focus on the ‘We’ of things |
| Are fixated on their own glory, even at the cost of others | Are looking for collective good of the entire organization |
| Have teams that can not trust them | Develop extreme trust in leadership |
| Will leave their team in times of crisis | Will take up lead in times of crisis |
Become The Best Team Leader With Best Diplomats
Best Diplomats believe that any leader that wants to progress and achieve greatness in their lives needs to prioritize their team and put the collective needs of others to individual needs. This is why all training programs by Best Diplomats are trained to facilitate cooperation and interpersonal collaboration.
Apart from focusing on diversity and inclusivity, Best Diplomats also allows you to meet people from all over the world, thus improving your connections and networking skills. You get the chance of working with a random set of people. This exercise helps you to put your differences aside and find out ways to collaborate. All this helps you become a team leader in the future.
Conclusion
Any leader, no matter how many years of experience they have, will enjoy fame and repute for a short time if they focus too much on their individual needs. Only leaders who have a positive attitude and realize the potential of team leadership will succeed in the future.
These leaders are not only popular, but also instill feelings of respect and trust in their leadership. If you want to prolong your years in the field and also emerge victorious in your endeavors, we suggest you pay attention to your leadership style and improve it for the good of all.
FAQs
Who Does a Team Leader Work With?
Team leaders share credit with their team. However, what many people fail to realize is that these leaders are revered by their team members and often adopt a democratic leadership style. They not only give their due regard to their team, but also ensure that their team members are properly involved in the decision-making process.
What Are the 4 Roles of a Team Leader?
1) Operational management of the team and the office daily
2) Motivating the team to give it their all and keeping them encouraged
3) Helping and coaching them, so they can finish their tasks on time
4) Delegating tasks to team members to achieve timely targets
What is The Difference Between a Team Leader And a Manager?
Team leaders have more authority as compared to managers. Team leaders delegate tasks and have more operational responsibility. They also have more power to command and fix punishments or rewards for the team members. Managers are generally involved with keeping the decorum of the office intact.
Who Is a Good Example of a Team Leader?
History is full of people who made excellent leaders. The best team leaders include Franklin D. Roosevelt, America’s president and one of the most influential people in history. He was known for having an excellent relationship with everyone working under him. Other examples include António Guterres, the secretary General of United Nations. During his tenure ship, he has managed to keep the morale of the countries high and have made them agree on many key issues.
What Are the Qualities of a Team Leader?
A good team leader is one that not only fulfils their operational role and keeps the decorum in the office, but is also the one that garners the respect of their associates. Team leaders are generally agreeable and have an alluring personality that keeps everyone in the office motivated. Additionally, they have a strong and confident persona that is coupled with excellent communication skills.
